“We want to make it more than a soup kitchen on wheels,” Jonathan Cutrell said of Lee University’s newest gift.

The Salvation Army in Cleveland donated their emergency response vehicle for use throughout the Cleveland community.

The van made an appearance on campus last Friday, simply to give students free hot chocolate and apple cider on a cool day.

Cutrell is the student coordinator for the outreach ministry that the bus will provide.

“We want this to be an avenue in which students can help,” Cutrell said. “There will be no complex means to help out … and it will count for student service hours.”

Though a set schedule of the bus outreach times have not been decided upon, the coordinators want to get a set group of student leaders involved with the project and then bring in some additional volunteers each time to help out.

“We want this to be a ministry with more than just 10 or 20 people involved,” Cutrell said. “We want to get companies, churches and other feeding ministries all involved.”

According to Regina Lawson, a member of AmeriCorps who is stationed at the Lee University Lenoard Center, the Salvation Army was looking for a place to get more involved in the Cleveland community.

“They had this van available and it was just sitting, unused,” Lawson said. “So they donated it for our use.”

The van was first received on Nov. 7 but had some delays in being used right away because the Leonard Center needed to stocked it.

“This ministry is about more than just serving food,” Cutrell said. “We want to get the community fully involved and have each volunteer use their own talents.”

For more information about being a part of the team of students to work for the ministry, contact Cutrell at Jonathan.cutrell@gmail.com, Lawson at Rlawson@leeuniversity.edu or the Leonard Center at 614-8614.

• See more photos of the Salvation Army truck at Lee.